AnteSpam
Spam & viruses stopped since 2003
AnteSpam's IP block is 198.73.4.0/27.
AnteSpam is closing on June 1, 2024.

AnteSpam Email Security (Phishing Awareness) Training (EST)

LOGIN ( Help Video )
Email Security Training (EST) Frequently Asked Questions.
Why do we need EST if we already have a good virus filter?
Even with the best virus scanners, Email Security Training will still help you in two important ways:
  1. Even the best AV programs and dangerous URL blockers take time to add new malware definitions or dangerous URLs. This means that brand new malware and dangerous URLs (usually called 'zero-day') are almost always going to get past them to your inbox. When that happens your last line of defense is your knowledge of how to detect a dangerous email. EST will improve your phishing awareness based on what the AnteSpam team has learned (and continues to learn) over many years of dealing with dangerous emails.
  2. A significant part of practicing persistent "safe email" behavior is a mind-set that is not exactly paranoid, but more "wary" and definitely not "trusting" that your virus scanner is perfect. EST encourages and rewards "wary" email reading behavior with instant feedback when mistakes are made and a random schedule of the training emails so that the user never knows when the next email will contain a surprise. This way the user over time becomes more aware and thoughtful before blindly clicking on something they shouldn't.
Can I try EST before I have to pay for it?
Yes. AnteSpam is currently offering the first month of EST for free. One month will introduce your users to how to identify dangerous phishing emails and will showcase the EST training process and weekly reports. One month will not be enough to fully develop persistent "safe email" reading behavior and will not demonstrate keeping your users informed of the latest phishing email tactics.
Exactly what happens after I enable production EST for a domain and one or more addresses?
  • First, at some random time within two hours after activation, each enabled address will receive an introduction email with the subject "Welcome to AnteSpam Email Security Training". This email helps them to understand what is going on and to alert them to watch for and delete "suspicious" email (which they should already be doing, but a reminder doesn't hurt).
  • Next, at some random time for each address within one-half to three days, the simulated phishing emails will begin. If the user identifies and deletes each one as they should, they receive a "pass" score for that email. If they do not detect it and click on something they should not, that email is scored a "fail" and they are taken to a safe web page that describes the clues they could have and should have seen.
  • After a user has used EST for 60 or more days and maintained a perfect score over the last 30 days, EST will scale back their rate of sim emails to about 1 per week. If at any time the user makes a mistake and is caught by a sim email, they go back to the training rate for at least 30 more days.
  • Finally, a user "report card" email is sent to each address each Monday with the list of emails they have received over the past 120 days and a Pass/Fail score for each. Each email in the list has a link that the user can use to review the clues if they want to. A summary email "report card" of all the domain addresses using EST is also sent to the domain admin(s) weekly on Tuesday and on the 25th of every month.
How does someone know how well (or badly) they are doing?
  • As mentioned above, each user gets a weekly email "Report Card" with results for the training emails they have received over the last 120 days and links they can use to review any they may want help with.
  • Also, the domain admin(s) receive a weekly email Report Card with the cumulative score for all active EST users. This domain Report Card is also sent on the 25th of the month so the domain admins will know how many and which users are currently using EST.
  • And finally, if a user mistakenly clicks on a training link, the "teaching minute" web page will show the user their current cumulative score.
What about disciplinary action on an employee that consistently "fails" EST?
How you use EST is up to you of course, but we recommend EST scores NOT be used in employee evaluation criteria lest it have a negative effect on user security training.
Can I submit phishing emails I have received to be included in your training curriculum?
Certainly! We would prefer you send the email and the complete original header if you can. The easiest way to do that in most cases is to save the phishing email as a file and then attach that to an email to our support team with "Phishing Example" in the subject. As a last resort you can just forward it to support@antespam.com, but that will require a lot more work to add it to the curriculum so it may not be added right away. Any email submitted and included in the curriculum will be completely sanitized before using, the original deleted, and will, if you request it and provide us a reviewing email address, be submitted for your review before we add it to the curriculum.
How much does Email Security Training cost?

First, we recommend you check with one of our Channel Partners for their pricing. They may offer packages and bundled services that will give you a better overall deal than purchasing EST directly from AnteSpam.

If you prefer to purchase EST directly from us, MSRP base (without quantity or prepay discounts) monthly prices are:

  • Standalone (no AnteSpam Security filtering): $1.07 per participating address.
  • In conjunction with AnteSpam Security filtering: $0.53 per participating address.
  • EST demo with or without AnteSpam Security filtering: No cost for up to 6 participating addresses in an email domain.

You can use our AnteSpam Cost Calculator or Quote form to get a Training Mode retail price quote, or send an email to sales at AnteSpam.com to request information about quantity and prepay discounts for EST.

How do I or my company sign up for Email Security Training?
Any organization or group with their own domain name can sign up and receive a Free Month!
If you want to work with an AnteSpam Channel Partner expert:
  1. Contact a current AnteSpam Channel Partner.
  2. Once you are signed up and have your administrative password, login, select your email domain, and enter the email addresses you wish to receive EST. If you have more than a few addresses, send the list to support@antespam.com and we will be happy to set it up for you. If you have any questions or need help, again let us know with a quick email to Support@AnteSpam.com.
If you are already an AnteSpam user, retail customer or Channel Partner:
  • If you want EST for a new domain:
    1. Add the domain to your customer account.
    2. When adding the domain look in the "Select Initial Domain Services" block and check the box "Enable Email Security Training" and any other AnteSpam services you need. Please keep in mind that AnteSpam services are reasonably priced, but not free. So always check with your AnteSpam Channel Partner or with us to make sure you know what to expect in terms of cost.
    3. While still in the AnteSpam Services block, select the Email Security Training option that will work best for you. The default is "for all addresses" because that is usually easier to manage, just disable EST for any address that should NOT have it. But if you will have all your domain addresses in AnteSpam for a different service and only want EST for a few, you can also choose "for selected addresses" and manually enable EST only for each address that needs it.
    4. Add your addresses in the domain Addresses tab and then, if you selected "for selected addresses" above, you will need to modify each address to enable EST. If you selected "for all addresses" above then you can either only add the addresses that need EST or add them all (for example, if you are also using AnteSpam for inbound filtering) and disable EST for those that do not need it.
    5. Send an email to support@antespam.com if you have any questions.
  • If adding EST to an existing domain that already has AnteSpam services, go to the domain's Settings tab:
    1. In the AnteSpam Services block, check the box for Enable Email Security Training.
    2. While still in the AnteSpam Services block, select the Email Security Training option that will work best for you. The default is "for all addresses" because that is usually easier to manage, just disable EST for any address that should NOT have it. But you can also choose "for selected addresses" and manually enable EST only for each address that needs it.
    3. Assuming your domain addresses are already entered, if you selected "for selected addresses" above, you will need to modify each address to enable EST as needed. If you selected "for all addresses" then just disable EST for those addresses that do not need it.
    4. Send an email to support@antespam.com if you have any questions.